Trek calls attention to vet suicides

Apr. 25, 2014
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Two ex-Marines, Ross Delafield (right) and Joshua Perry, are walking from New York City to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about military veteran suicides. / Robert Craig, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

Ross Delafield, who served with Perry in the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, had a 2-foot log hanging around his neck.

"We're carrying this log in tribute to the service members who killed themselves last year," said Delafield.

Along with Perry, he is walking from New York City to Washington, D.C., to bring attention to issues affecting current and former service members on behalf of the nonprofit advocacy group The Wounded Walk.

The Pentagon on Friday released revamped figures showing that a total of 319 active-duty or mobilized soldiers on active duty killed themselves in 2012, as did 203 Reserve Component troops who were not activated. A still-cited Department of Veterans Affairs estimate concluded that 22 veterans died from suicide each day in 2010, an extrapolation that would add up to 8,030 deaths.

The two hikers said that the precise numbers are less important than recognizing that the problem is significant and that more help is needed.

"If you're a veteran, you're a veteran," said Delafield, of New York City, who served from 1999-2003 and now works as a personal trainer.

Delafield's extra load â?? both men also carried sizable rucksacks containing clothes and three days of provisions â?? was also sort of a cosmic counter-balance to a far longer walk taken last year.

Adam Shatarsky, founder of the advocacy group, had in 2013 made the group's first such walk along with another fellow former Marine, traveling from California to Washington, D.C. When he asked Delafield to take on this walk, Delafield hesitated.

"I was like, 'That's way too short compared to what you did,'" Delafield said. "He said, 'Hey, carry a log.'"

The pair left Columbus Circle in New York on April 12.

Suicide represents "only a small fraction" of the issues The Wounded Walk would like to address. For instance, combat veterans discharged after January 2003 get free VA health care for issues related to that service, but only for five years after discharge from active duty.

"To put a number or a limit on the amount of years that you're allowed to come back and say that you're suffering with issues â?? it's preposterous to me," Delafield said.

Another: the ease of using the VA. Both say VA does good work for vets, but its ability to do so needs to be broadened.

"We'd like to see the VA get more support," said Perry, of Vero Beach, Fla., who served from 1998-2002 and is now a massage therapist. "More alternative therapies. Better counseling services. More options."

And wider dissemination of those options, Delafield said.

Broadly, the two feel that veterans have great support throughout the country. "We're seeing that along this walk," said Perry. It was evident as the two men walked toward the Wilmington's Riverfront area Friday.

"God bless you!" one woman called out. "Where's the parade?"

A passing driver honked and waved. "Hey, guys! Good job!"

Delafield and Perry want to see that sort of support translate into action â?? both by those who've served and who have never served.

"That's what we're trying to do â?? bridge the gap between the common veteran and the help that's out there for them," Delafield said. "They can contact us, for one. We pride ourselves on having a wide community that we can reach out to and get help for nearly any problem."

On the interpersonal level, he said, "If you know someone who's struggling ... just talk to 'em. Reach out to 'em. Because a lot of these guys feel lonely."

"We want to empower," said Perry said of veterans. "We want to empower them."

The pair is due to arrive at the World War II Memorial in Washington on May 10.